Not Quite BLW

So I set out with the intention to do BLW, but then I didn't REALLY get what it was--because I wanted my kid to eat healthier than I eat, which doesn't quite work with STRICT BLW (sharing food with baby).

And, as it happened, I got a baby with a million food allergies, and then, constipation issues (to rice, banana, apple, other grains, etc) . . . so he needed to eat mostly a prune/raisin/apricot/peach/squash/beet/carrot/soy yogurt, etc type diet while I am eating like fake mac and cheese and tofu pups and bean tacos and also healthier things, but typically flavored with soy sauce, nutritional yeast, "butter", tchratcha sauce, etc . . . so, he can't eat it.

So this is what we've been doing. Now at nearly 11 months he's been having 3 meals a day. Breakfast at 8 am is the most recent meal addition--we started that third meal maybe a month ago, around 9.5-10 months. He wants to eat by like 7:30 - 8 and I couldn't deal with the mess of letting him self feed. So this is this one meal that I feed him soft food with a spoon and don't let him even help more than one or two seconds per morning . . .

So, 8 am, I feed him unsweentened soy yogurt mixed with diced rehydrated prunes and prune syrup. The prune adds some sweet to the unsweetened yogurt, plus this whole mix gets his sensitive system started out right, so he doesn't get constipated.

Then at noon he eats lunch, and at this point we do let him self-feed, but it's not really what we are eating. He usually eats a few prunes, or sometimes raisins or apricots (all rehydrated--ie, floating in water/syrup and all wet and MESSY but ideal for promoting pooping). And then usually some kind of veggie--grated carrot or beet or daikon, etc--steamed broccoli, asparagus, green, etc--sliced tomato or avocado, etc. And then usually some other kind of whole fresh fruit--slice of mango or kiwi or a whole peach, plum, nectarine--now just starting to give apples and it seems to be going okay (woot).

Repeat a similar style of meal around 4pm--his dinner I suppose. I also try to give him some kind of easy-to-eat protein once a day, like tofu, lentils, hummus, bean soup, etc. He LOVES hummus but I need to make my own because all the brand ones make him react.

And then sometimes he has dinner with us (usually a small amount of a selection of what we are having if we eat before 6:30)--otherwise we eat after he goes to bed.

So I guess as he approaches a year I'm thinking of making that 6:30 meal more significant (and prob changing 4pm dinner to 2-3pm snack). I might even make buckwheat/quinoa cereal with breastmilk (and mixed with prunes/raisins) and let him practice eating with a spoon at that meal/us feeding him.

So that's where we are at! In terms of self-feeding, it's going really well. He loves to eat, he loves all food basically. He'll eat for a half hour, fairly steadily, when he has lunch and dinner. He does the pincer grasp and is really good at eating everything with his hands, including whole unpeeled fruit. Like any 11 month old baby (I would think) he's not great with using spoons/forks, and we aren't great at letting him practice because he's actually more messy than when he uses his hands. Maybe that will be part of "dinner" now, too. He did actually "get" recently the whole putting the spoon/fork in the spoon as a means to eat, so I guess now it's time to practice, hehe.

Sorry for not updating more--james LOVES the computer and he won't let me type when he's awake. And when he's napping there is so much more to do! And in the evening I am so tired, I've been going to bed at like 8 or 9. And sometimes he doesn't fall asleep until 8:30, sooooo yeah. And sorry also if I have been a bad friend/family member in terms of calling back/hanging out. This parenting stuff is totes a full time job!! Mama's tired.

Movie Monday: Explorations with Bananas

Over the last month, I have been letting James "try" eating every week or so. Pretty much exclusively with banana. In this series of videos from 4 months and one week until 5 months, you can see him getting better and better with banana!

Here is James having his first taste of banana at 4 months plus one week. He showed interest so I let him try. However in 15 minutes this is definitely the most successful he gets:



I waited a week and then tried again. This time, at 4.5 months, he manages to take a "bite" but just gags on it and spits it out. Gagging is perfectly safe and is not to be confused with CHOKING, which it actually PREVENTS.



And here is a few days later, getting better still:



A minute later, you see him using my hand as a tool for self-feeding--a common strategy among young self-feeding babies!



Finally here he is at almost five months. At this point you see he is able to use multiple strategies to suck, lick, and otherwise "eat" the banana.



I still don't think he's eaten very much, but I think in 2 more weeks he might be starting to!

Random Update

Sorry for lack of an update! I haven't been on the computer too much, trying to whip the house into shape for the party we're having on Feb 5th (more on that later).

I'm starting to get really excited for James to start eating food, even though it will be four more months until then, hehe. I never understood why people were so eager to start solids but now I realize it's pretty fun to give your baby food in the beginning! At least, I imagine it will be considering how excited I am to do it!

James "worked from home" today but he's really bad at it. We got another 15 inches of snow last night, so he was snow-blowing the driveway from like nine until noon--then he changed and rested and ate--and then he finally got down to work about 2 and only worked until like 5 . . . I wish he was able to focus better when he was here, I really like having him here, but I know he won't "work from home" very often when he can't actually get a lot of work done! :-/

Anyway, then we went and washed a bunch of big stuff at the laundromat--quilts, comforters, mattress pads, couch covers, etc--and then we went food shopping while our stuff washed, and then we got pizza next door to the laundromat while everything dried. It was fun--James said it was like being on a date (only with a baby there, hehe).

Dum dum dum dum